A senior Iranian cleric has dismissed talk of a military strike by Israel as empty propaganda, taunting the Jewish state for screaming 'like a cornered cat' rather than roaring like a lion.

Israeli media have speculated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking cabinet consensus to attack Iranian nuclear sites as Western diplomats say new evidence by UN nuclear watchdog that Tehran is researching ways to build atom bombs will be published tomorrow.

'The recent threats of the Zionist regime against Iran are more for internal consumption for themselves and their masters who are struggling with the Wall Street movement,' said Ayatollah Mahmoud Alavi, referring to anti-capitalism protests that began in New York and have spread around the world.

'There is a difference between the roar of a lion and the scream of a cat that has been trapped in a corner,' he said. 'And this threat of the Zionist regime and its master America is like the scream of a cornered cat.'

Alavi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, a body that appoints and supervises Iran's supreme leader, said Israel would not dare attack Iran.-TradeArabia News Service